Wassail is an Old English beverage made of hot mulled cider. It means “Good Health.” It is traditionally drunk as an vital part of Wassailing. (Singing, drinking and refilling the bowl as the folks travel house to house in their village.)
Wassailing is a Medieval Yule English drink ritual to provide a healthy cider apple harvest for the following year.Folks would go wassailing from door to door throughout their village, it was considered a lucky sign to have them show up at your door.
Wassail is concocted by mixing in apple brandy, apple juice and other fruit juices. Winter spices include, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, mace and cloves.
Fruits are roasted such as small apples, kumquats and oranges then added to the Wassail mix. It is served out of large twelve handled apple-wood or silver bowl and ladled into silver or pewter goblets decorated with tied ribbons around the bottom of the goblet.
Wassail was also used as an offer to the apple tree spirit, it would bless their orchards, increase their harvest and drive away evil spirits.
Naxos musical apps for Advent feature 25 complete tracks behind numbered doors. Each day, a new door is ‘unlocked’ to reveal a new piece of seasonal music from Naxos’s classical music catalogue.
Tap on a door a day … is it a Christmas carol or an instrumental piece? Is it an old favourite or a new discovery?
Celebrate the Advent season with a delightful selection of music tracks from Naxos!
“Naxos is simply an amazing company.” — Fanfare, 2013
FEATURES · 25 complete tracks — over 1 hour — of classical music. · Excellent performances. · Replay any track as many times as you like. · All music available offline. · Simple and quick to use.
MUSIC INCLUDES ‘Ding, dong, merrily on high’, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s ‘Sleigh Ride’, ‘In dulci jubilo’ and Handel’s ‘Messiah’ among much-loved classics and lesser-known gems!
MUSIC INCLUDES ‘Gabriel’s Message’, Tchaikovsky’s ‘Nutcracker’, Bach’s ‘Christmas Oratorio’ and Adams’ ‘O Holy Night’ among much-loved classics and lesser-known gems!
Nota bene: Both apps were last updated on November 9, 2015. I have just installed both of them on my phone and they are both playing without problem. I recommend them to you for your consideration and seasonal classical musical enjoyment.
I had been disappointed to find both that both of these were no longer in the Google Play store, so I went to the Naxos website directly and clicked on … dead links. Thus, it was that I e-mailed Naxos customer service to say how much I had enjoyed them last year, was so sorry to see that they had disappeared, and that I hoped they would see fit to bring them back.
Et pis voilà, mesdames et messieurs: I just got an e-mail that both Naxos classical music Advent Calendars have been restored to the Google Play store. I just went and checked on both, and Deibus gratias!.
Santa is on strike due to global warming. All presents this year will be delivered by Sasha the Christmas Tiger. Milk and cookies may not be sufficient.
I was asked to make a tutorial on how I make my felted Yule goat ornaments!
Yule goats are a part of the season in part their durability. Many times during the harsh winters of yore, the cows wouldn’t produce milk during the winter’s while goats would. Not only that, but the nature of the goat eating pretty much anything to survive meant that even if hay had run out, a family could still feed the goat from their stores and from their compost heap, even scraps from the table and cooking and would still produce milk. The Yule goat has become a symbol of strength, perseverance and one of blessing, staving off the harsh realities that winter can impose.
Step 1: Make you guide out of cardboard or sturdy paper. If you would like to print off the template, I made a quick google doc. Step 2: Lay on piece of doubled felt and cut along outline. Step 3: Tie a knot on end of embroidery floss and pull through one side right at the neck. Step 4: This isn’t really step,
but make sure that the side where the knot is will be the inside of the Yule goat to hide the knot.
Step 5: Bring both side together and use a whip stitch to loop along the edges from the neck forward and all along there whole thing until just past the tail. They don’t have to be super close together, but try and keep the distance uniform and tight. Step 6: Leave enough room to put stuffing in the goat using a chopstick, wooden skewer etc. You can also add in herbs, spices, crystals, sigils, or written petitions inside. Step 7: Once it is full of stuffing, finish sewing up the back to your first knot and tie off a knot to keep it from unraveling. Step 8: (optional) if you have enough excess, wrap the remaining floss around the neck until you have a just enough to tie a little bow. I usually tie the bow facing whichever side I designate at the front. Step 9: Using black thread, or even a small seed bead, you can sew on an eye. If you want to decorate the goat more, use thin ribbon or trim and decorate to your style, trying to sew it in place with minimal stitches to avoid making bulges in the stuffed goat. Step 10: Sew a small loop from the horn, pinch it in place to see what part is balanced, and sew the loop there.
These ornaments are pretty cheap to make and once you get the hang of it, you can make a bunch. Supplies include: Felt, needle and embroidery floss, stuffing, and optional decoration and supplies listed in step 6.
Original content of this blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attributution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license
This post is not meant for terfs, or nazi’s. I see an uptick every winter of them reblogging this.
Witch Tip Wednesday 12.5.18
Yule Goat Ornaments
Yule goats are a part of the season in part their durability. Many times during the harsh winters of yore, the cows wouldn’t produce milk during the winter’s while goats would. Not only that, but the nature of the goat eating pretty much anything to survive meant that even if hay had run out, a family could still feed the goat from their stores and from their compost heap, even scraps from the table and cooking and would still produce milk. The Yule goat has become a symbol of strength, perseverance and one of blessing, staving off the harsh realities that winter can impose.
Usually Yule Goats were made from bent straw, wrapped in red ribbon or string, this falls along the lines of straw art done near harvest like the Corn Dolly tradition for fall that I posted about a while back. This is a modern adaptation that is a lot easier than soaking straw and braiding it, so I hope you enjoy it!
If you do make these, please send me pictures! I loved seeing them last year 💚
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